A group of burglars in a Mexican border state tried to kill a woman using firebombs as payback for her reporting the crime to the police and for having identified them on social media. After the attack, authorities released one of the burglars they had taken into custody.
The case took place recently in Saltillo, the capital city of Coahuila — a state bordering Texas. According to information provided to Breitbart Texas by state authorities, the case began when a group of burglars broke into a house and stole cash, furniture, and various other items.
The victim, Maria de Los Angeles Arenas Ramirez, was not at the house at the time of the burglary but reported the crime when she got home from work. The woman and a friend were able to get a glimpse of the burglars and then were able to get videos and photographs of two of the burglars. In addition to providing the information to authorities, she also published them on social media. The burglars have been identified as Enrique “El Cala” Salazar Palomo and a second man known only as “El Flaco.”
In response to the social media posts, the burglars tried to silence the woman with firebomb attacks on at least three separate occasions. In one of the attacks, “El Cala” went to her home and threw a Molotov cocktail at the victim when she opened the door. The woman was able to move aside and avoid being hit by the incendiary device which crashed against a wall and set it on fire. Neighbors rushed to help the woman and put out the flames. Since the attack, the victim spoke about her ordeal to a local news station.
Days later, El Cala tried to approach the woman’s home for a second attack but neighbors spotted him and detained him while they called Saltillo Police. However, without a known reason, a Coahuila state judge released El Cala two days later. The victim claims that state prosecutors did not give her advance notice and have not provided her with any security measures as they had promised.
Just hours after his release, El Cala spray painted “I am going to kill you bitch” and several other threats on the walls of the victim’s home.
Since his release, El Cala and his group have continued threatening her while authorities have not done anything. On social media, the victim has offered a cash reward for information leading to El Cala’s arrest.
Editor’s Note: Breitbart Texas traveled to Mexico City and the states of Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and Nuevo León to recruit citizen journalists willing to risk their lives and expose the cartels silencing their communities. The writers would face certain death at the hands of the various cartels that operate in those areas including the Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas if a pseudonym were not used. Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles are published in both English and in their original Spanish. This article was written by “C.E. Herrera” and “J.M. Martinez” from Coahuila.